You guys… it has been a CUH-razy couple of weeks. After a modest start, things EXPLODED about a week ago. I was selling about 25 books a day (if you remember from my first week blog post, I was happy with those numbers), and then one night, it jumped to 37. By the next day, it was a 158.
This is what my ranking looks like today.
Monday is the start of my third week, and I’m currently selling about 300 books a day (it’s 11:30am as I write this, and I’ve sold over a hundred books today).
This is way, WAY more than I expected for this first book, written under a pseudonym (albeit an open one), in a genre for which I am not well known. And the really cool thing is that I can share my experience with you, because in this case, there was a definite turning point connected to a very specific marketing tool, namely a very well-designed, very well-targeted Facebook ad.
I’ve heard SO many people say they tried FB ads to no avail, but I can only conclude that my experience was due to A) a gorgeous looking ad (I didn’t design it, so I can say that), B) a pretty kick ass cover and tag line (Not Your Mother’s Mob), and C) knowledgable targeting by the folks at Authorbuzz, who have been managing my ad. I’m not sure I would have had the same results on my own, but frankly, the people at AuthorBuzz know their shit. They took charge of my ad, and within four days I was seeing crazy click though. As of now, I’ve sold over 2,000 books and have only spent about $110 on the ad itself.
So right now, that’s where I’m putting all my marketing money, and I can’t recommend AuthorBuzz enough for this and other marketing services. I know it’s hard to go out of pocket with this stuff, but if you can at all afford it, IT IS SO WORTH IT. There’s a lot of nuance to making the ad (and marketing campaign in general) work, and in my opinion, it’s harder to get the same result without the services of a company that really knows their way around this stuff.
That said, I know money is sometimes an issue, so following are some things you can try on your own;
1. Spend the money to get an excellent design from a designer who knows FB’s parameters. When I say excellent, I mean this ad has to look professional, like something you’d see in a trade journal. It has to have a super compelling tag line. And if you’re writing romance, it should be HOT (not necessarily to be confused with nakedness, because my model is in a tuxedo). Hiring a freelancer to do these ads is cheaper than you might think, usually between $25-$50.
2. Once you have an excellent design, do a ton of research on FB targeting, because it doesn’t matter how great your ad looks if it’s popping up for the wrong people. If you write romance, for example, thinks about your readers; what would they list as things they like to do on Facebook (be specific)? Which authors might they list as favorites? Probably they’re women, so target females to avoid wasting impressions on middle-aged dudes are unlikely to read in your genre. Author buzz did most of this for me, so I can’t speak to the specifics of my ad, but hopefully this will give you a start.
3. Encourage people to leave honest reviews, because again, the more people interact with your Buy page, the more the algorithms are going to work for you. I always forget to do this! People post on my author page that they loved one of my books, and I say, “Thank you so much!” Then later I face palm when I realize what I should have said is, “Thank you so much! Would you be willing to leave a review?” For readers out there; please leave reviews for the books you love. It makes such a difference!
After about five days of very heavy traffic to the Buy page on Amazon (reason enough to run your FB long enough to gain some traction), Ruthless landed on the first page of Hot New Releases for Romance > Contemporary, and I saw a big spike in sales right around that time. So it pays in more ways than one to get people engaging with your book’s Buy page. There’s no way to know exactly what caused this amazing string of events, but I’m told by those who know more than me that it’s probably a combination of the FB ad, a compelling cover and tag line, good reviews and word of mouth, the kicking in of Amazon’s algorithms, etc. Basically, the more people engage with your book on Amazon – – by buying it, reviewing it, etc. — the more you’re worked into Amazon’s algorithms, and that increases your exposure exponentially.
Lastly, I know there is a camp in trad pub that thinks Amazon is the anti-christ, but I have to be honest; they have been the easiest and best to work with by far, from ease of upload and revision of files to number of books sold (I’ve sold 17 books on Nook and 15 on iTunes, the rest of that 2,000 came from Amazon). My questions and problems (minimal!), have been addressed promptly and pleasantly, and they have really made the whole process so easy.
So, thanks, Amazon! And thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and recommended the book. It is so gratifying to see RUTHLESS reach so many readers, and I’m totally DYING to share FEARLESS with you on September 7th.
<3
Basically, Ruthless is killing it at #1,182 Paid in the Kindle Store, 